and it is going to be a close so they matter most to us. one. both sides energized. if you're caring for a child with special needs, and they know the spotlight is on them. the world will be watching ohio. i'm don lemon, thank you for joining us. happening now, hurricane now to "the situation room" with those new polls and mr. wolf took his home and looters took blitzer. don, thanks very much. happening now, wrenching new his livelihood. stories of survival and the growing fuel shortage in heartbreak on staten island. we're going to meet a man whose the disaster zone, people are business was looted after he lost much of his home. waiting for hours. also, the growing fuel shortage in the disaster zone. and with the presidential candidates on their sprint to gas lines in some areas now election day and a new jobs you stretch for miles. and as don mentioned, new poll "the situation room." numbers are just coming into "the situation room" from the state that could decide who the next president will be. we're talking about ohio. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin with breaking news, the new york city marathon has been cancelled in the wake of the superstorm disaster. mayor michael bloomberg was insisting it needed to go on as

a boost for his battered city, but we begin with the but it caused a huge backlash destruction from sandy. homes and livelihoods destroyed. from storm victims and other new now lying in piles of rubble that stretch for miles across yorkers. he acknowledged the controversy the new york city borough of saying it cannot be allowed to staten island. cleanup is underway. and with every new layer of distract from recovery efforts. debris that's removed, the deb is on the hard hit staten tragic stories emerge of the residents whose lives have been island right now, deb, they're pretty angry when the mayor said turned upside down. cnn's brian todd is on the scene he would not postpone or cancel for us. brian, what are you seeing on the marathon, he reversed his staten island right now? >> reporter: well, wolf, at just course, i assume they're pleased about every house you go to in he made that decision. >> yes, and this is not just a the section of staten island you hear horrific and pretty detailed stories of just how bad reversal, it's a complete and the storm was. here's the story of one man who total reversal. took a few hits. the backlash was extreme. people said any resources that if you can't imagine what it's were going to be diverted for like to suffer through a massive storm, listen to nick. the marathon should be brought >> the water was so high. it was up to this part of the door. here. it should be used to take i couldn't get into the door. i went around the side of the volunteers here because these people need a lot of help. house. and i stood on a box that was just driving along the streets you see people's homes, floating. and i went through the window to everything they own, the

get back in the house with my family. contents in piles and mountains >> reporter: taking us through his house on staten island, the in front of their homes. home that's have been completely retired ups truck driver says he and his family scrambledto n upper floor away from water he shattered. and the bridge where the race was sure was going to keep would have begun, it would have rising. his wife and four sons survived. just about all of their first cut off first responders and other resources from getting floor didn't. then just as nick and his family into the city quickly and the were recovering from the shell outrage was palpable. shock and flooding and trying to assess all of this damage, he took another body blow. he leads us to his side yard where he set up a small engine how horrible to begin a race two repair business and a trailer full of tools he'd need for his blocks from where two boys were new profession. >> last night they were banging on doors. swept from their mom and anybody home. drowned. if you're not home -- if we they thought to go ahead with a don't get a response from you, marathon would be one of the we're going to break your door most cold acts that could have down just to see if you're okay. happened and there was no they were all looters. i yelled out my window on a few justification or no amount of occasions until i was exhausted mind that could divert from the tired. i wake up this morning, push my attention. they need hands, they need volunteers, they need first shed open and went through all my tools. responders, and people to help i got nothing. them dig themselves out from every tool that was hanging that this catastrophe that has struck was worth anything, all my air

so many neighborhoods. tools, there's nothing in the >> in a of your conversations, drawers but hand prints. did you find any residents at >> reporter: could these have all that were at least in part been people who you knew, nick? sympathetic to the mayor's >> it's sad to say the earlier announcement that the neighborhood. marathon was going on? >> reporter: so you knew them? >> yeah. >> no, not at all, i opened the i knew one of them. >> reporter: he owns a house window as we were driving past, next door that was ruined by the because i thought maybe were flood. the tenant says she lost another just talking to the wrong home to a fire two years ago. people, and i shouted what do you think about the marathon, virtually every single person >> what did i do to take a house said it was a horrible idea, a from me twice? slap in the face, a disgrace, >> reporter: a tenant, an owner, and disgusting. his family left with so very the people really felt it was little except. just a horrible thing and they >> my kids are alive. also felt that one of the my wife is alive. reasons the mayor was doing it, rightly or wrongly, was to we can move on. appease some of the big backers >> reporter: nick says he came up with a slogan for his new and donors and not to help business. it says when you're engine's people who are not rich. that's what they were telling me. we don't have the money, so sick, call dr. nick. but he's not dr. nick for a we're being ignored. the lights will go on in lower while. >> what's he going to do now? manhattan tomorrow, maybe, but >> he says he's going to try to

get a job as a handyman in the not on staten island for a week. neighborhood helping people with so what does that say? home repairs. but he's got one son in college, they felt isolated, another son applying to college. going to be pretty tough going for him for a while. >> brian todd, a lot of stories marginalized, and i was at gr z breezy point where all of those like that unfortunately. the president is not speaking of homes burned down, and as bad the aftermath of the storm. he's in ohio. and horrendous as that is out >> no matter how tough times may there, the treats of staten island is equally devastating, get, we always bounce back. we're all in this together as wolf. >> an awful situation for the one nation and as one people. folks, i'm sure they're beginning to feel like second class citizens, if you will, they must be pleased that the that theory has guided this mayor decided to back down. country along for its improbable superstorm sandy was only the journey for more than two beginning of a series of centuries. and it's what's carried us through the trials and hardships for so many of those that live in these hard hit tribulations of the last four years. remember in 2008 we were in the areas. middle of two wars and the worst let's go to kate baldwin. economic crisis since the great >> yes, staten island was sure hard hit. depression. today, our businesses have they suffered not only a heavy loss of life, but a staggering created nearly 5.5 million new loss of homes. jobs. and this morning we learned that for at least one man there, a companies hired more workers in loss of live lihood as well. october than in any time in the

last eight months. the secretary of security said that borough is one of the [ cheers and applause ] hardest hit, what are you seeing home values are on the rise. housing construction is moving there today? >> kate, the scene behind me up. we're less dependent on foreign tell it's all. look at this. this is the corner of cedar oil than at any time in the last grove avenue and maple terrace. 20 years. this home was levelled, houses because of the service and are like this or in not much sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform, the war in better condition. iraq is over, the war in your hearing horrific stories afghanistan is coming to a from people in this close. al qaeda's been decimated. neighborhood. here is a story of one man that and osama bin laden is dead. took a few hits. >> if you can't imagine what it's like to suffer through a [ cheers and applause ] massive storm, listen to nick. >> it was up to this part of the door, i could not get into the door. i went around the side of the oh. oh. oh. and one more thing. house, and i stood on a box that american auto industry that had was floating and i went through been written off is back on top the window. >> taking us through his house, the retired ups truck driver say of the world. [ cheers and applause ] he and his family scrambled to

so we've made real progress an upper floor. these last four years. >> we thought we would lose our but, ohio, we're here because we lives. >> they survived. know we've got more work to do. just about all of their first floor didn't. >> then just as nick and his as long as there is a single family we rr covering from the american who wants a job and storm and the flooding and can't find one, as long as there trying to assess this damage, he are families who are working took another blow. harder and harder but falling behind, as long as there's a child somewhere in lima or >> he goes to his side yard where he had a engine repair anywhere in ohio or in the country languishes in poverty business. >> last night they were banging and barred from opportunity, on doors, anybody home, anybody then our fight goes on. our work is not yet done. home, if we don't get a response, we're going to break >> all right. so the president getting into your down door to see if you're okay. they were all looters, i yelled his stump speech now after saying a few words about what was going on in the aftermath of out my window on a few the superstorm sandy. we're going to continue to occasions. i woke up this morning, they monitor what the president has to say. we'll bring you more of that. pushed my shed open and went we also have some brand new poll numbers just in from the through my tools and i have critical battleground state of nothing. ohio. anything worth anything, all of my air tools, it's just air you see the president in lima, ohio, right now. prints. >> could these have been people our brand new cnn/orc poll shows that you knew.

president obama with a narrow >> it's sad to say it's lead in that state 50% to mitt romney's 47%. neighborhood guys. that's within the sampling error >> they knew you, you knew them. making it still effectively a >> yeah, i knew one of them. dead heat. our chief national correspondent john king is joining us right now. he's in ohio as well. >> and the tenant next door says john, take us inside these she lost another home to a fire two years ago. numbers. >> wolf, they are fascinating >> i can't even explain what did when you look deep in this poll. the president you just showed i do that the same thing he's here in ohio. happened to me twice. governor romney will be here i just feel like why? tontd. they expect some 35,000 >> a tenant, owner, his family republicans at his rally. in this part of the state i'm in left with so very little cincinnati tonight. when you look deep in our poll except -- >> my kids are alive, my wife is you see this one will be fought out through the last poll closing on election night. alive, we can move on. look at these two candidates among independents. governor romney with a slight >> reporter: nick says he came edge 48% to 46%. up with a slogan for the new again, that's a statistical tie well within the margin of error. business, it was if your engine the auto bailout is one of the things the president thinks will is sick, call dr. nick, but he help him here in ohio. you heard him mention that in is not dr. nick now. this speech. >> and you have been talking to look at this in the industrial northern part of the state, across northern ohio where you have many auto-related direct residents, what do they need most right now? >> that's a very good question. factory plants, the president they need some form of heat. leads 52% to 45%. if people can bring in

some evidence there especially among white blue collar workers generators or something like that to help them heat their the president is doing better homes, tubs of hot water, things than he might have done like that, that's what they need otherwise without the auto especially this time of night, bailout. what was fascinating four years the temperature drops here very ago when you visited where i am, you knew at this time the race drastically as soon as the sun was over because the president goes down. right about now, the temperature then-senator obama was doing so well here. look at our poll numbers here is really dropping and they need from cincinnati and the some form of heat, that's hard southwest part of the state. to get in here, no electricity, governor romney ahead 52% to 47% in a region that is absolutely of course, so these people are in a pretty bad way right now. essential to republicans if they are to win a close statewide >> a wait and see until the election here. we visited both campaign power gets back on. headquarters today in the brian todd, fabulous reporting, cincinnati area. everyone concedes it is about as thank you. tight as it can get. >> tough assignment, but he's the democrats say it's much doing a great job. tougher, much tighter than it a daunting task on new was four years ago. the question though, wolf, is we jersey's barrier islands as have that slight lead, yes, within the margin of error. well. long beach battered by the winds but the president has had a and waves of hurricane sandy. consistent two or three-point lead in just about every ohio the storm pushes tons of sands poll conducted in recent months. the romney campaign is telling off of the beach and it is on us it believes it can overcome that on election day with more the streets now. intensity and more energy from the republican base. the new sand dunes are as high we'll see. as you know, wolf, no republican has ever won without this state. as four feet in some spots.

the romney campaign concedes it gas, patience, and short supply, very much needs it. cars are lined up for miles and >> there's been a lot of speculation on the provisional ballots available in ohio that miles and hours of waiting. ♪ that could delay the outcome in that state. what's the latest you're getting announcing the all-new 2013 malibu from chevrolet. on that? >> reporter: there is a ♪ possibility. this is a state where you have with a remarkable new interior featuring the available early voting. and you also have other chevrolet mylink infotainment system. provisional ballots. this is where sophisticated styling begins. ballots that are contested. some will be set aside and and where it ends? that's up to you. it's here -- the greatest malibu ever. disputed. look, let's hope with citizens that doesn't happen. but this state and other states are very close that both ♪ campaigns have teams of lawyers not only will be here on skip-a-year mortgage sweepstakes today. election day to watch, they have up to five winners observers, but teams of lawyers will get to skip a year of mortgage payments... ready to be in place so close courtesy of quicken loans. would there be an automatic in other words: absolute happiness! recount triggered. enter often at skipayear.com. that is a possibility as we head into the final days and final weekend, wolf. not only the candidates out and busy, their legal teams are very busy studying all the rules as well. >> the lawyers are very, very active right now. let's see what happens. john, you'll be back later.

thank you. the most anticipated jobs report of the year is now out coming four days before the election. the labor department reports hiring in october was stronger than expected with 171,000 new jobs added. the unemployment rate however ticked up .1% to 7.9%. let's talk about what this means politically with our chief political analyst gloria borger. gloria, you see these numbers having a significant impact these final four days? >> not really. at this point because of what you said. you saw the unemployment rate tick up a little bit. so mitt romney can talk about how unemployment has ticked up. you saw job growth a little stronger than anticipated. so the president can say, you know what, this is a sustained recovery. it's not fast enough. but it's not -- that's just what with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. you heard from the president in imagine living your life the campaign speech you just with less chronic low back pain. played a little bit of before imagine you, with less pain. because he talks about the fact that since he's been president cymbalta can help.

he's created nearly 5.5 million cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculosketa jobs. so it really hasn't changed the one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, calculation one way or another. by the way, wolf, in a lot of can help reduce this pain. these states including the one tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, john king is in, ohio, there's you have unusual changes in mood or behavior been a lot of early voting. or thoughts of suicide. so it's too late anyway. antidepressants can increase these >> the economy has issued -- in children, teens, and young adults. number one, i want to alert our cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. viewers, janet napolitano has been in staten island touring taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, that devastated area. or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. here she is right now. let's listen in. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. >> we know that staten island took a particularly hard hit signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. from sandy. tell your doctor about all your medicines, and so we want to make sure that including those for migraine the right resources are brought and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles here as quickly as possible to or serious allergic skin reactions help this community which is so like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores very strong recover even more to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease quickly. just to give you a sense of an and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. overview, it's been mentioned that this was a large storm. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. the area that sandy covered was roughly the size of europe. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help.

we had major disasters in a go to cymbalta.com number of states that president to learn about a free trial offer. obama already has declared emergency declarations in a number of states that have been declared. we have seen some huge impacts on things like the availability gas supplies are rapidly of power. and with of course the loss of dwindling and lines are growing. power comes attendant losses on >> cars are lining up for miles things like gasoline. and people are waiting for hours so all of these things, all of to see what they can get. these issues being worked now as susan candiotti is working that the community comes back and as part of the story for us, what's we work to support con ed and other utility companies in the latest? getting the grid back on. >> we have been in two different lines for much of the afternoon we have over 75,000 survivors in trying to see what it is like, new york and new jersey who now what everyone else is have applied for disaster experiencing being in line for hours to get gasoline. second of two lines. assistance already. the first time we were in line almost $15 million is already on the street. for about 20 minutes and they ran out of gas. this is assistance directly to this is the second line and it's been more than two hours now and we just got word a little while individuals. that spigot is going well. ago they just ran out of gas

we have what are called disaster too. so we're going to have to do what everyone else is trying to recovery centers. do and that is find a gas kind of a one-stop-shop. it's where you can go and get station that still has supplies, the information about what and it obviously is an all-day assistance you can get, what the housing situation is, how you project. >> susan, it's not necessarily handle unemployment, if you need the shortage of gas that's the help with your kids in school, problem, it's something else causing all of these delays. all the kind of associated issues that happen during a >> that's right, it's a big major disaster. problem trying to get the gasoline transported to all of these gas stations who are just one in connecticut. waiting for that next shipment. even more will be opening over they open the ports, they are the weekend and by monday. trying to get it moving, but it takes awhile to get to all of as of yesterday, more than 7.1 these places, some of the gas million liters of water and 1.6 stations don't have power, so you have to drive around or get million meals were positioned to on the internet and find out which are the ones that be delivered into new york. currently have the gas supply. more than 1.6 million liters of and so far, everyone in this line, has been very patient, water and a million meals have they're waiting it out, when been transferred to other states they get the bad news, you might to supplement their existing think they'd be mad, but for the most part, everyone is taking it inventory. we've established a base at the floyd bennett field here in new in stride, they're saying what

york. can you do, they're saying we that's where we're bringing all the food and water. have to move on. we have not officially received that's where the national guard picks it up and takes it out to word from this gas station about the delivery centers around the what the problem is. and there is still a big line of boroughs. people behind me who don't know 657 housing inspectors are what we have been able to find already on the ground here out by running ahead. these people in front of us, now helping individuals look at their houses, make a decision as we're approaching the gas to whether the house has any station, and the police possibility of being restored or department, they have a lot of presence here, they're telling whether it's a total loss. people what's going on and they're saying they're not we have 3,200 fema personnel getting another supply or working this storm in the shipment until tomorrow. >> yeah, a lot of nasty moments northeast. and more are on their way. while people are waiting for 11,800 national guard already are deployed in the impacted gasoline. we have heard ugly reports, states. and we expect more to come. susan candiotti, we'll stay in as was mentioned, 258 red cross touch with you. shelters have opened. nine federal search and rescue and touring staten island with officials, i talked to her teams have been deployed, and asked her about what's next supplementing state and local and if the federal government efforts. could have been better prepared. and they have searched more than 3,300 structures in queens and >> it's a stuff situation, it's 870 structures here in staten

going to be tough until power is restored and gasoline becomes island. available, those things are with respect to other assets that are coming in, we all know related, it's going to be a cold that power remains the weekend, nobody should be lacking for shelter, for food fundamental issue. you should know that president and water and for health care and all of the necessities of obama has said that all of the life as we work through the federal government is here to power situation. help. so, that's what's on our mind, and that means the department of it's life safety, it's public defense. and the department of defense safety and recovery. yesterday was air lifting >> there was a lot of warning utility crews with their about this storm, and there have equipment here to new york, to been some complainting that new jersey and other places there was not stuff, if you impacted by the storm. and more of those air lifts we anticipate to be coming over the will. coming days. presogsed on st there's an 800 number people can prepositioned on staten island. did you have the proper shelters call. ready to go? >> yes, preposition, you have to 1-800-621-3362. remember that we didn't quite know where the storm was going to hit, and you don't want to 1-800-621-3362. you can go to disast preposition in an area that's going to be hit by the storm. so we picked an area right disasterassistance.gov. or indeed if you go to a disaster recovery center, all of outside of the likely storm zone, and have been moving all

the information you need to find of that material, food, and out about the assistance you are water into the affected area immediately so that, for entitled to can be found. and as was mentioned, people are example, into the manhattan, now going door to door. staten island, new york city one of my concerns -- i think area, a million meals, more than all of our concerns is as the a million liters of water, and temperature drops with power that's going to keep coming and still out in many neighborhoods, be a steady flow. making sure that everybody is safe and if they need to get to and in addition, of course, we a warm place that we're able to work with our partners and the red cross, and with the national do that. so a lot of work ongoing. guard on distribution, so we a lot more left to do. were very well prepositions. but the food, the water, all the >> but the stuff is just beginning to arrive today, is that right? assets coming into this area of the country, coming into new >> no. stuff began arriving on tuesday. york. governor cuomo's been a great but all of the centers and advocate. and coming into the borough of places of distribution were not staten island. established right away. they took a little time to get thank you. up and running and they're up >> all right. we're going to contin and coming now, so now we're nitojanet napolitano, the working through the storm, secretarand curity. she's been touring the situation in staten island.

you see the president of the president obama said whatever borough of staten island right resource we can give we need to give and lean forward and that's behind her. what we're trying to do. we're going to be speaking with >> that's a huge, huge janet napolitano later. we're also going to be speaking operation. not just for a few days, it will live with the president of the go on, and on, and on. manhattan borough. there's lots going on including >> people are in trouble and there's still more than 3 a huge debate in new york city million people without power right now over whether or not across the east coast. that marathon should take place something not even close to this weekend as scheduled. being over. lots to talk about. still ahead, the most anticipated jobs report of the what's going on in lower manhattan specifically when we year is out. president obama is talking about come back. questions? it, so is mitt romney. they're waging a fierce campaign battle in ohio. ne hanyoe occasional nstipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? . energy is being produced to power our lives. e philli' colon al probiotic cap each day helpde against these digestive issues while energy development comes with some risk, with three strains d bacteria. north america's natural gas producers are committed aroved! fema annve theer egular life. to safely and responsibly providing generations phillips'. of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems.

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we're hoping that some time tonight the switch will go on and much of lower manhattan will then have kind of some electricity. which would go a long way in we're now just four days alleviating some of the problems we're facing in lower manhattan. from the presidential election, if you needed a reminder. make no mistake, it's still a >> i don't need it, and the dire situation. we have people with no elevator service, no heat and hot water, candidates are kris crossing in getting colder in the city. and the challenges of lower manhattan are really the same as what you're seeing in staten a whirlwind of campaigning. island and breezy point and the >> they're working very hard, rockaways. let's go to ohio right now, it we see problems in brooklyn as well. so we are in a very serious has 18 crucial electoral votes. situation riegtd now. hopefully it will get better president obama won in 2008, but over time. mayor bloomberg and governor ohio went to george w. bush in cuomo have done an amazing job 2004. coordinating all of us to focus obama was there today touting on relief. the new jobs report that showed i think that's going very well. but we have a lot more to do. >> below 34th street still is in stronger than expected hiring last month. but much of the focus was on a the dark for all practical purposes, no power, no electricity. but you say the switch will go on for almost all of them or for romney ad that he says is trying a chunk of that area? >> well, that's still to be to care people. what is he saying, jessica? determined. i'm hoping that it will be a large chunk. we won't know for sure until the

switch goes on. >> in three speeches here in we're hoping that will happen ohio today, the president made later this evening or maybe much later. brief mention of the new frob's but that will not solve the whole problem, obviously. we still have buildings that are report, and he talked flooded. so when the switch goes on, the extentatively about the auto bailout that he says saved jobs lights won't go on in those buildings. here and throughout the country. we're still trying to deal with he mentioned that romney and he some of our new york city public housing buildings that have had some real issues. this is a good step, but we have delivers his closing argument in many, many steps in this a speech that david axle rod process. >> when do you expect full told us came from the service to be restored to the president's loins. >> in ohio, the president saw subway? >> well, i got to tell you, our the bright side of the new jobs subway system, joe lohta who's numbers. >> this morning we learned that companies hired more workers in really been on top of this, the october than at any time in the bus service is running. it's coming online piecemeal. every day it gets a little last eight months. better. the american auto industry is but we're still going to have a lot to do here. we still have flooded areas. back on top. >> the president turned quickly governor cuomo has done amazing work getting the tunnels pumped from jobs numbers to the auto out. industry. >> we have been seeing this out we were on a conference call elected officials with president of governor romney and his obama and governor cuomo last night going over a lot of the friends in the last few weeks. issues especially the housing >> no mention of losses or an issues that people will face. unemployment rate that upticked we've been in constant contact to 7.9%, but lots of time on a

with the mayor's office. bottom line here is everybody's fight about the auto bailout and moving to get things done. but the challenges are so an ad for the romney campaign. enormous, it's unlike anything >> you can't try to scare i've ever seen as manhattan people, this is not a game, this borough president as a public official for 20 years. is people's jobs and lives. >> we're showing our viewers >> obama took gm and crystler unbelievably long lines, people waiting two or three or four into bankruptcy and sold hours just to get on a bus. crystler to italians who will how much longer can a situation like that continue? build jeeps in china. >> well, that's by the way another issue that i think is >> of course, it turns out, it's not true. the car companies themselves getting worse by the day. cabs are running out of gas. have told governor romney knock and that's a transportation opportunity for people. i haven't seen lines like this it off. since the 1970s energy crisis. knock it off. that's what they said. you know, jimmy carter in 1980 >> the squabble over that spot where you just had lines down made headlines here in hose. the obama campaign hit back on the block of cars. we're back to that. air -- again, that's also going to slow >> gm calls romney's ads us in terms of getting people out of this situation. politics at it's cynical worst. >> you know, there's a lot of >> on the stump, the president uproar over whether or not the is casting it as part of a marathon this weekend in new york city should take place. larger message. >> massaging the facts when you saw the front page of the they're inconvenient to your campaign. "new york post" today. that's not changed, that's the oldest trick in the book and that's what he's been doing the

last few weeks. these massive generators are and i know what real change supplying electricity to the tent in central park that's in looks like because i fought for manhattan while new yorkers it. right alongside him. suffer. the mayor, mayor bloomberg, he and after all we have been defended the decision to let the through together, we sure can't marathon go forward. i'll play a couple of excerpts give up now. of what he said. >> now, wolf, the romney >> it doesn't use resources that campaign was quick to hit back can really make a difference in saying in part that the auto companies are expanding their recovery. and that sort of thing. production with jobs overseas, it's a different group of people. to be clear, they're not moving there will be no diversion of their jobs overseas, but they're resources. there will be no redistribution adding new jobs overseas. of our efforts. they say that unemployment has risen since the president has no dem ewe in addition of our been in office. now, one maybe lighter note, efforts. >> so you believe the mayor? wolf, i did mention thatad >> i think the mayor wants very much to show the world how resilient new yorkers are. obviously a marathon is a great axlerod ng thepehes are tradition of new york. comifralready. >> didn't ta long, very cute. there's another tradition that i the president, in the last goin think we have to consider. and that is new yorkers helping new yorkers. out there. i can't help but think that a >> it's almost over, i promise. generator that's now in central mitt romney is also in ohio park heating the media tent today, we'll catch up with his campaign and hear hows using would be better served in staten the rejpojob's against president obama.

island or parts of queens or at shell, we believe the world needs a broader lower manhattan. mix of energies. we to have very limited that's why we're supplying natural gas to resources. i do respect the mayor's efforts on recovery. generate cleaner electricity... how can you argue with someone that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. very successful with the police commissioner standing behind and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, him. knows how to get things done. shell is producing ethanol on a close judgment call i ere - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. on the side of caution. i've seen too many people >>a minute, mom! waiting for food or worried let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. about relatives in buildings on the 20th floor and no one can seem to get to them. i'm worried about our fellow new in that time there've been some good days. yorkers in the rockaways who and some difficult ones. have been devastated. people are homeless. and the fact that their homes but, through it all, we've persevered, may not be rebuilt for a year is also troubling. supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. i think we have to take every asset we have and focus it on so why should our anniversary matter to you? the people in new york. and then we'll have a marathon. because for 200 years, we'll postpone it and have the we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. greatest marathon the world will and the next great idea could be yours. i think respect us for it. but i understand the mayor is grappling with this. ♪ we'll see what the end result is of the final, final decision will be. >> you think it's still possible they might at least postpone it

to a more appropriate time at least when people's lives aren't getting relatively back to normal that might be the right thing to do? >> i have a hunch this might not be a final decision on this. this is a tough call by the mayor because you don't want to cancel a world event, but you have to be mindful as you showed on your tv screen, cnn showed, there are people who are suffering in ways that we can't imagine. we want very much to help our people first. >> have you told the mayor how you feel? that you think it would be appropriate to postpone? >> listen, we've been in contact with city hall almost every day on recovery efforts. they've been very responsive to communities. and this is part of the conversation that we're having. >> so you're still discussing it with them. but you want it to be postponed. >> i would like to see it postponed. i was convinced when i was going around the lower east side and watching people wait for hours for food.

and i got to tell you, wolf, you know what they asked me? they asked me about food. they asked me about shelter. the children were shivering. but they really said to me, when are we going to be able to go back into our homes with electricity? and the other thing people ask me, are we going to be able to vote on tuesday? i could not believe people who are basically having no resources came up to me, are we going to vote on tuesday? is there going to be an election? and that's the best kind of democracy. and that's the new york attitude. people put up with so much. they deal with adversitadversit. and they want to vote on tuesday. i think that's the greatest point about our democracy. so let's not have a marathon. because no one asked about that. let's get the vote done. let's help people recover. and then we'll throw a marathon party the world will be envious of. >> so bottom line, will they be able to vote? will all those precincts have power? will they be able to register and let people vote? >> i believe we're going to get that done. we're going to have an election. and there's going to be huge

turnout in new york. new yorkers, you know, we bring it on. we can deal with adversity. think about 9/11. and the battle today for think about all this city has gone through. and we're still the biggest, ohio. >> absolutely, mitt romney has been there much of the day greatest city in the world. everybody knows that. everybody respects us. knowing that no machine has ever that's why the mayor wants to have the marathon. because we do the big things. won the white house without winning ohio, and romney i just think in a close call we believes he has a new weapon in ere on the side of caution. go to staten island, go to the his arsenal. jim acosta is with the romney rockaways, brooklyn, take those resources, take the generator out of central park and put it campaign, jim? >> voters are getting a new where it can do good for people who need it the most. sense of the contract their >> scott stringer is the borough facing on election day after president of manhattan. he's got a huge job ahead of president obama called the lawsuitest jobs report clear him. good luck to you. good luck to everyone in new york. >> thank you. we'll be watching tuesday night. progress, and romney is using >> thank you very much. them to make his case for real when we come back, janet napolitano, the homeland security secretary, she's going change. >> with a fired up republican to join us live. we've got a lot of questions for her right after this. crowd outside of milwaukee [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more? chanting four more days, mitt romney sliced into the numbers like a block of cheddar.

>> unemployment is higher today than when barack obama took office. think of that. the question of this election comes down to this -- do you want more of the same, or do you want real change? >> gone was any sign of the hesitation romney showed in krit siding the president in the after math of. he warned a second obama term could bring about another recession or worth. . over the final weekend before the election. rougherly 100 gop heavy hitter then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. wills deliver that message in 11 at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools battleground states. >> the broof of if it's working and experienced retirement specialists or not is what the price is that you're paying at the pump. can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras romney will visit on sunday, and and a wide range of low cost investments, his campaign is playing is you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. playing this add, playing. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com

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norfolk southern. wolf and kate? one line, >> we also have new poll numbers infinite possibilities. from the critical battleground state of ohio. take a look at this, president obama has a narrow lead in this state, 50% to romney's 47%, that's within the sampling error making it essentially a dead heat. we have our political analysts humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, here to join in. what stands out to you, gloria, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. from this latest poll? >> i was looking at the gender which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, numbers which i always do which auto policies come with new car replacement is quite interesting. and accident forgiveness if you qualify. when you look at men and women, you'll see that mitt romney see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. leads with 13 points, there it liberty mutual insurance. is, with men, and with women, responsibility. the president leads by 16 what's your policy? points. so romney has to get his numbers up with men in order to be at

going to speak shortly to the homeland security secretary pa parody with the president janet napolitano. she's just toured staten island. because this i a real problem. we'll get some questions to her. >> david, what stands out to you? standby for that live interview. >> to me, wolf, i informs ohio for a day earlier this week, and meanwhile, many victims of the superstorm have had to rely on gas generators for power. the polls all show that if you and that's only one of the problems out there. it's so hard to find gas right average them out, president now in the area devastated by obama maintains a slim lead, but the storm. no gas means no electricity and what you hear on the ground is a no way to fuel cars or buses. sense of confidence that the our national correspondent susan evangelical vote will be like candiotti waited in line at one 2004 when it lifted george bush gas station. >> reporter: wolf, we are in in ohio. and they think the absentee hashburg heights, new jersey, on ballots will make a difference. the outskirts of new york city, where they have lines here so we're in a very tight race. stretching for almost a mile at i don't think anybody knows, and it's all going to depend on turn 6:00 in the morning. and finally by mid-afternoon out now. >> ron, let's look ahead at the they ran out of gas. next few days, let's look at the and we are here with the last person who was able to get her gas can filled up. it doesn't look like you got itinerarie much. >> i didn't get much. no, i didn't. >> reporter: how long did you itineraries. have to wait to get this one? colorado, ohio, pennsylvania, virginia, florida, wisconsin.

>> two hours. i had to park my car because i obama's campaign, ohio, didn't have enough gas to wait on the line. and i was the last person who wisconsin, iowa, virginia, was able to get gas. colorado, i feel like i'm thankfully. >> reporter: this must be so repeating myself, what do they hard to wait so long for so tell you? >> yes, and it's important to little. what are you going to do now? >> i'm going to go home and wait it out. now i'm just going to head home underscore how unusual this is, and wait it out. >> reporter: do you have power? >> yes. it is a firewall for a democrat. but no hot water. >> reporter: no hot water. >> no. in the last 90 years, kate, only >> reporter: how are you keeping your spirits up? >> just hoping for, i don't know, it to be over by the one democrat has run even one weekend. monday i'm hoping it will be point better than in ohio, so better for me to return back to what you see in your poll today and in all of the polling in work. i can't stay home anymore. i'm ready to go back to work. ohio, is in those critical >> reporter: sure. thank you very much. midwest upper battlegrounds, i we wh you well. that's the thing, no one really knows how long it will take to think ohio and wisconsin are the get the fuel and supplies runng more quicy,ore inner circle, they're running evenly. but for the people who were in better among working class white line and got to the front of the voters there than anywhere else line and found out, huh-uh, in the country. that explains the lead, the nothing's left, what do they do next? wolf, they just keep on driving, often for miles and miles and miles past a lot of stations gender gap. some auto bailout been the bane before they find what they're

s statnthat open and has eno fuel satfy evyone'seeds. >> yeah. >>eporter: wolacko u. story has more. ssa candtti, thanks very we have two races going and the much. ey need e fuel, they need president is counting on electrici different coalitions of each. electricity, they need the power to get the fuel into the cars as >> gloria, what strikes you well. all right, we have a lot more coming up. about the tone in the final we're about to speak with janet days. >> the campaign is ending kind napolitano, the homeland security secretary. of the way it's been, which is, she has just toured staten island. you saw some of her news conference a little while ago. it's sort of -- this has not been a campaign of great vision, we've got some good questions of great talk about the future, for her. standby, much more of our of what you want to do for the coverage right after this. i gave birth to my daughter on may 18th, country. this has been a campaign of negative adds, very polarized elect electorrate. what these candidates are doing are going out there, appealing to their bases, and the few independent voters left that are undecided. what strikes me is it's ending the day that it's been which is disappointing and uninspiring. >> we were told that the rhetoric was -- they drew back

the rhetoric a little because of the storm, and then today, i even said it felt like it was pent up political rhetoric and it exploded. >> david was in ohio and i was in ohio and you really get the sense of the magnitude of the divide in this country. two coalitions that are different in their demography and are almost exactly equal in size. we're going to divide almost exactly in half, and the challenge will be how do we five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. build any working con census for now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. change. >> i want to play this little [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. clip of romney today. he is making a pretty dire [ woman ] learn from my story. prediction here, listen to this. >> the same path we're on means ♪ $20 trillion in debt in four years. it means crippling unemployment mom? dad? continues. it means sag nant talk home pay, guys? [ engine turns over ] [ engine revs ] depressed home values and a

♪ devastated military, unless we change course, we may be looking he'll be fine. [ male announcer ] more people at another recession. are leaving bmw, mercedes and lexus for audi >> what do you think, another than ever before. recession? >> another recession is unlikely take advantage of exceptional values during the season of audi event. unless we go over the fiscal cliff and then it's extremely likely. he is trying to scare people here right at the end. what impressed me, wolf, is how much we have seen once again why being the incumbent to holding the election is a big advantage. seven of the ten incumbents have won. and we saw with hurricane sandy, very unusual to have a storm this close to the election, but how well the president was able to use the office to do the right thing. and he got endorse from collin powell, an okay jobs report, it was a nice little lift. it's very concerning to conserve tufs that in the last three or four days he's gotten a lift, and they're worried that not

only has romney stalled, but the president has a little momentum. >> do you think that helped? >> look, i think it's very hard to quantify, but when you see the president as the pastor and chief and the commander and chief all at once, arms around chris christie, et cetera, et cetera, it certainly doesn't hurt him, but mitt romney didn't misstep, he held his fire, he behaved properly. people can criticize him for that, but in the end it only helps a view of the president. >> we have to leave it there, ron has a great new piece as well, thank you. a living nightmare for many residents on staten island as we have been talking about and we will talk about the greatest need, the government response and more with a local journalist there. the homeland security the only time i've ever had a break is when secretary janet napolitano, is i was on maternity leave. seeing the devastation for herself on this day. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. she's been touring the hard-hit

staten island area. she's now joining us live. now, i'm going to be able to have the time madame secretary, thanks very much for coming in. to explore something different. >> you bet. >> you know, the devastation has it's like another chapter. really been eye opening to a lot of us. and you just toured staten island with the borough preside president. i have a cold... he told us this yesterday, i'm going to play a little clip and i took dayquil, but i still have a runny nose. i want to know if you've [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't work on runny noses. responded to what he said. listen to this. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have an antihistamine. >> there was no answers for these people. really? [ male announcer ] really. some of these people that came into shelters, their homes have alka-seltzer plus cold and cough been destroyed the night before. fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a fast acting antihistamine to relieve your runny nose. they have no place to go. [ sighs ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. i need answers. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ >> he was speaking to anderson [ male announcer ] try new alka-seltzer plus severe allergy cooper. did you give him answers today to treat allergy symptoms, plus sinus congestion, and pain. what was going on? >> yeah, i think so. and we have brought terrific resources to bear here in staten island from fema volunteers to the red cross, shelters are open, food and water's being

distributed. we're already getting money out to individuals to help them with temporary housing. you know, we are providing as much information as we can. we literally have people now in the shelters going person to person answering their questions. and we'll be opening up several ♪ more centers throughout staten [ male announcer ] introducing the all-new island where people can go and completely re-imagined 2013 chevrolet malibu. find out all of the benefits to sleek new styling... which they are entitled. so the borough president and i sophisticated dual cockpit design, had a great meeting today. we met with some of the other and sport sculpted seats. available chevrolet mylink leadership of the borough. i think things are in sync infotainment system. the all-new 2013 chevrolet malibu. moving forward. it's a tough situation. it's going to be tough until power is restored and gasoline ♪ becomes available. refined comfort to get you in a malibu state of mind those two things are related. no matter what state you live in. it's going to be a cold weekend. ♪ but nobody should be lacking for shelter. nobody should be loacking for food and water and the necessities of life as we work through the power situation. that's what's on our mind.

it's life safety. it's public safety. and recovery. >> there was a lot of warning about this storm. and there are some complaints that there was not enough stuff, if you will, generators, water, food, shelter, prepositioned on staten island in advance. did you have the proper material, the proper shelters, whatever, prepositioned ready to go? >> oh, yes. preposition, you have to remember we didn't quite know where this storm was going to hit. and you don't want to preposition in an area that's going to be hit by the storm. so we picked an area right outside the likely storm zone and have been moving all of that material, the food and the water, into the effected area immediately so that for example into the manhattan, staten island, new york city area, a million meals, more than a million liters of water. and that's going to keep coming. that's going to be a steady

flow. and in addition of course we work with our partners in the red cross and with the national guard on distribution. so we were very well prepositioned. >> but the stuff is only beginning to arrive today. is that right? >> no. no, no. no. stuff began arriving on tuesday. clearly a very tough decision, for the first time in but all of the centers and the the history of the new york city places of distribution were not marathon that started in 1970, established right away. the race is now cancelled. those took a little time to get up and running. the marathon's director was but they're up and running now. brought to tears when she made and even more are coming. so now we're in the process of the official announcement at a working our way through the news conference a few minutes storm. you know, president obama said ago. >> it is with incredibly heavy whatever resource we can give and put into this cause, we are hearts today, tonight, that we to do so and to lean forward. and that's exactly what we're feel the best way to help new trying to do. >> i want to bring into this york city at this time is to say conversation if you don't mind, that we will not be conducted madame secretary, the borough president of manhattan, scott stringer. he's got a disaster on his hands the 2012 ing new york city below 34th street in lower manhattan right now. >> right. >> you have an opportunity right marathon. >> a sad moment for her and all now, mr. stringer, to speak to of the organizers and i'm sure the secretary of homeland

for a lot of runners. security. she oversees fema, the federal all of the resources for the emergency management agency. do you believe, mr. springer, marathon including water and that the stuff you need -- you blankets will go to storm painted a pretty horrific picture of what's going on right now without power, without victims and there are websites popping up from runners that electricity, without gasoline in want to donate their hotel rooms lower manhattan, do you believe that the material is on the way to victims as well. right now? has it arrived? at least 20 people have died >> well, we are seeing the role in staten island when a massive of the federal government in storm surge suddenly came on action. as i mentioned earlier on this shore. we have joined right now on show, i was on a call with governor cuomo, president obama the phone, is it getting any and local elected officials. and the president as the better, is the calvary there secretary said, said we're going yet, claire? to bring the full strength of >> yes, wolf. the federal government to help lots of response teams here in this. we see that already. there is a great collaboration today. fema, red cross, the government between the governor, the president, the secretary and mayor bloomberg and all of us to try to get resources in. agencies, the cry for help was nothing i've learned in life runs totally smoothly. he but when you have a commitment heard. >> and i assume people are of resources, when you see the relieved that the marathon is national guard with hot meals now cancelled? banging on doors beginning that >> yes, there was quite a lot of process in earnest, i think it bodes well for the future of our opposition to it. a big e-mail campaign, and i

city. we just need to work real hard because as i mentioned earlier, yes, we are in a dire situation. think staten islanders were hopefully the lights will go on in a lot of manhattan tonight. concerned it would take the focus off of what was important but even beyond that we're going to have to work very hard. right now which is recovery. but we have a partner in the federal government. barack obama has made it very clear that this city is going to janet napolitano spoke today get his attention. the fact that the secretary is and held a press conference, let in staten island, was in manhattan with the governor the me play a soundbite of what she other day working with congress said. >> we know that staten island took a particularly hard hit from sandy, so we want to make people, they are everywhere we need them to be. >> you want to say anything to sure that the right resources the president of the borough of manhattan, madame secretary? are brought here and as quickly as possible to help this what's on the way, what the community which is so very folks in manhattan can expect in the days to come. strong recover even more >> well, i think the number one quickly. >> and one thing we have definitely been hearing from our thing is power in lower reporters on the ground speaking manhattan. and associated with that is to resident social security that the federal government had not getting the tunnels pumped out so that they can be used again. reacted quick enough, that fema so the army corps of engineers wasn't there and responding quick enough, do you think they has been moving in lots of pumps were there quick enough to to help with that. i think the brooklyn battery respond? >> i think there was a delay on

tunnel was being pumped out as we speak. that has 43 million gallons of water in it and the tunnel's staten island. over a mile long. we're one of the five boroughs these are huge pumping process. of new york city. i think once the word got out but con ed told us today they thought they'd have power on for about the unspeak about lower manhattan by tomorrow devastation here, the response morning. came. and i think, mr. president, you and our residents themselves would agree with me that will be a great relief when those lights spoke up to the media and go back on. reached out for help. >> one final question and i know >> i think we're showing some pictures from your website, from you have to go, madame your news right now, you secretary. if you want to weigh-in on this captured some really startling dispute in new york city whether images of the devastation of the the marathon should take place this weekend. the mayor, mayor bloomberg says super storm. you have lived there all of your yes. the borough president, mr. life, what has it been like for stringer, says no. what do you think? is it appropriate to have a you, what are you seeing? marathon like that under these >> staten island, even though it's part of new york city, it is really a borough of circumstances? >> look, that is a decision for the local authorities to make. neighborhoods, and one of our we will work through whatever it headlines the other day was will is we have to work through to staten island ever be the same? get life necessities out there, will life ever be the same? food, water, shelter, work and getting power restored, work if feels like it won't be. with utilities, getting gasoline some communities were wiped out,

available. that's going to be my focus for lived ruined, changed forever. the next 72 hours. i was walking around an area >> madame secretary, good luck. today just seeing people trying thanks so much for joining us. to get their lives back together >> you bet. thank you. >> she's got to go. mr. stringer, a quick final question for you. and salvage any belongings, your are you reassured that help is on the way? what can you tell the folks in heart goes out to them. >> claire, thank you so much, lower manhattan right now that things are going to be fine? managing social editor, they >> look, it's very helpful that have been doing potentially the secretary is in our city. the president is talking constantly to the governor. we have to coordinate well. prize winning reporting. and i do think it's going to be tough. erin burnett also monitoring i think it's going to be tough in lower manhattan. the situation on staten island. it's going to be tough around the city. people are having real hardship. what do we have at the top of but i think if we allocate your hour, give us a preview. resources in an intelligent way, >> we were out again today to see what was happening, red if we understand what's ahead of us, we'll get through this. cross had started to come. new york always rises to the there was great frustration occasion. about the marathon. and our people understand that we were at a hotel that was full we have to make this work and we have to help each other. of people who lost their homes, neighbor to neighbor, that's how and the hotel owner said i can we've always done it. >> scott stringer, once again, only give marathon runner as cot thanks very much. good luck to you. >> thank you. and they're very relieved about

>> good luck to everyone in new york and new jersey and this news tonight and connecticut and in the area bittersweet for so many. that's been devastated. we talked about neighborhoods in we're going to continue our staten island where we found breaking news coverage what's they were not getting the help going on there. lots of political news. only four days left before the they needed. election. much more coming up right after yesterday today another this. neighborhood will be our guest, how did i get here? he informs that neighborhood, dumb luck? or good decisions? 50% of the people live below the poverty line. ones i've made. they have not gotten what they ones we've all made. needed and he will tell us who about marriage. they are and what they need. children. money. and when we were out covering about tomorrow. the wreckage, we stumbled on a here's to good decisions. story that i'm just so excited to share. who matters most to you says the most about you. it was a moment of joy. massmutual is owned by our policyholders an entire family lost their home, everyone they knew lost so they matter most to us. their homes, and they went ahead massmutual. we'll help you get there. with a wedding today. we have that for you. 100% new. >> thanks, erin. for more information about sandy 100% mmm... and what you can do to help wow, that is mmm... those affected, check out it's so mmm you might not believe it's a hundred calories. new yoplait greek 100. cnn.com/impact. >> coming up in florida, we will it is so good. look at a group that is

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what's your policy? as you saw here earlier this hour president obama's in ohio right now. not only touting the new jobs report that came out today, but also accusing mitt romney of trying to scare people with a very controversial campaign ad. chief white house correspondent jessica yellin reports. >> reporter: in ohio the president saw the bright side of the new jobs numbers. >> this morning we learned that companies hired more workers in

october than at any time in the last eight months. the american auto industry is back on top. >> reporter: notice that pivot? the president turned quickly from jobs numbers to the auto industry. >> we've been seeing this out of governor romney and his friends over the last few weeks. >> reporter: no mention of government job losses or an unemployment rate uptick to 7.9%, but lots of time on a fight over the auto bailout and at 8:00 p.m. tuesday night, an ad from the romney campaign. all eyes will turn to florida. >> and you can't try to scare that's when the last polling people. this is not a game. stations close. we'll watch to see who wins the state's 29 electoral votes. these are people's jobs. president obama just barely these are people's lives. captured florida in 2008 with >> reporter: he's talking about 51% of the vote. george w. bush took 52% in 2004. this. >> obama took gm into bankruptcy and sold chrysler to italian who he won by 537 votes though in is are going to build jeeps in china. >> of course it turns out it's 2000 over al gore after millions of votes were counted. not true. so who wins this time could boil down to a block of voters who usually are reliablely the company ceo told governor

romney himself knock it off. democratic. >> reporter: the squabble over let's go to john zarrella. that spot has made headlines >> you know, wolf, we are seeing here in ohio, the obama campaign a lot of tv ads in south florida. a lot of them, targeting jewish hit back on air. >> politics at its cynical worst. voters and that is something we >> reporter: on a stump the have not seen before. president is casting it as part of a larger message. not all the talk in florida this >> massaging the facts when they're inconvenient to your year revolves around the campaign, that's definitely not hispanic vote and how it will change. that's the oldest trick in the decide which way the state goes and it's not just about that book. yeah. that's what governor romney's been doing these last few weeks. stretch of asphalt between tampa and i know what real change and daytona beach in central looks like because i've fought for it. florida called the i-4 corridor, where all the swing voters live. right along side you. and after all we've been through some say for the first time in together, we sure can't give up memory, the deciding factor in now. >> report from cnn's jessica florida could well be a block of yellin. she's with the president in voters who have always been lima, ohio, right now. steadfast democrats. we'll speak with her later. we have reporters all over the country right now getting ready >> there's no way a democrat can win florida today without two for tuesday's election. they're in all the key things happening. battleground states. one, a large turnout in the much more coming up from all of these reporters. meanwhile, the other big story we're following, the grim search jewish vote and secondly, an for victims of superstorm sandy. overwhelming democratic vote in

the community here in florida. that search is by no means over. >> romney backers are doing cnn went along with national guard troops as they searched everything they can to peel away jewish voters, especially in homes in an area that wasn't accessible until now. there are a lot of warning lights south florida. there are television ads paid for the by the jewish coalition featuring democrats who have swished. >> i was a big obama supporter. had a fund-raiser in my home. believed in what he stood for. >> romney flirs are stuffed in mailboxes along the turnpike and on interstate 95, billboards and sounds vying read quote, obama oy vey, had for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. enough? >> brecken means to throw up and available with a patented safety alert seat. when i see these, i want to pull when there's danger you might not see, off the road and brecken. you're warned by a pulse in the seat. >> he supports president obama. he say the republicans are pandering and it's not going to it's technology you won't find work. >> the notion that the first in a mercedes e-class. thing all jewish voters look at the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. is where a candidate stand on israel, that is making a certain

narrow view of the jewish people take the steps to reach yours, everyowith usgoals. with real advice, for real goals. that i find to be a, not true and b, it makes me angry. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. >> when i went to israel -- >> the obama campaign is taking every step of the way. from big steps, to little steps. the republican challenge seriously, firing back with an since 1863 we've helped guide our clients, so they can take the steps to help grow, ad focused on israel. >> our bond with israel will be unbreakable. preserve, and pass along their wealth. >> the ko chairman ofco-chairma so their footsteps can help the next generation find their own path. called florida democrats for all of us serving you. romney says it's absolutely not all about israel. >> i think we need to look at us bank this as a business and put somebody in there that can run this country and bring pack the jobs. >> four years ago, obama won 78% of the jewish vote. political scientists say the attacks could cost the president as much as 5% of that support. the quift of about 25,000 votes. in a close election, perhaps the difference, now, jewish people make up about 3.5% of the state's residents, but 8% of the

perform, compete and grow. and people are driving this change. voters. >> good report. thanks very much. >> join us and the entire cnn that's the power of human resources. the society... team for election night in america. our continuous live coverage for human resource management and its members know... how to harness that power, because we help develop it. begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern tuesday night. we'll be right back. from the next economy, to the next generation, we help get... [ female announcer ] nature exists on the grandest scale... the most out of business, by getting the best out of people. ♪ shrm. leading people, leading organizations. ...and in the tiniest details. ♪ and sometimes both. nature valley granola thins pack the big taste of granola and dark chocolate into one perfect square, under 100 calories. nature valley granola thins. nature at its most delicious.

boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. new york's mayor michael that's how i met marilyn... giada... bloomberg is fending off really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire criticism to go ahead with

sunday's marathon. he spoke to supporters and made [ male announcer ] use any citi® card it clear that the race isn't to get the benefits of private pass. taking anything away from the more concerts. more events. city's response to the disaster. here's what he said. more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? >> i don't think there's any [ male announcer ] get more access with a citi card. question but we have new yorkers [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ] who have lost loved ones and nothing's ever going to replace that. people have lost their homes. we have to make sure that we do everything we can to help them recover. we have to work around the clock for people to get through this thing. and i assure you we're doing that. if i thought it took any resources away from that, we would not do this. but we have plenty of police officers that work in areas that aren't affected. we don't take all of them and move them into areas that are affected. there will be no diversion of resources. there will be no redistribution of our efforts. no demolition of our efforts. we have a 24/7 operation going. which i'm confident we're going to do. we have to do everything we can to help people. and when power returns over the next day and mass transit, more people are able to go to their homes. that's going to make a big

difference. >> on the other side, you just heard the borough president of manhattan, scott stringer, tell us he disagrees with the mayor. he thinks that the marathon should be postponed. our own deborah feyerick is on staten island. she's talking to residents. they are outraged at mayor bloomberg and the decision to let this marathon go forward, if it does. [ woman ] it's 32 minutes to go time, are you one of them? drink dream water, the natural, fast acting sleep aid that helps you wake refreshed. visit drinkdreamwater.com. one of the remnants of sandy is dangling high over new york city and crowds are lining up to see it. here's joan moos. >> there's a new addition to new york's skyline making it hard to resist looking up. >> that's insane. >> it's amazing it hasn't fallen down yet. >> seems to be just dangling in

the wind. >> the crane was caught on camera during its partial collapse like a modern day sword hanging over manhattan's 57th street. it had newscasters riveted. >> they are afraid when that crane goes, it could be bouncing off of other buildings around and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. here. >> destined to be the tallest the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone residential building in new york are working on a joke with local color. city with $90 million penthou s the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. penthouses. police have closed off the streets below as engineers and while i make my way into the venue, figure out when the weather the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. makes it safe to strap the [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. drooping boom to the building. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. cathy and her husband were in a [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... hotel room. >> i was telling my mom i was working together has never worked so well. safe and at that minute, i heard the crane go over. crunch. he loves risk. i said, honey, you've got to look out the window. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, >> they were evacuated to or jumping into the market, he goes with people he trusts, another hotel. donald trump has a view of the crane out his window.

which is why he trades with a company he's even with it and told cnbc that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees. so he can worry about other things, it was left too upright. like what the market is doing >> they didn't tie it down. and being ready, no matter what happens, >> they're not supposed to be which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade. tethered. >> somebody made a big mistake. >> it's conceivable it was just a strange gust of wind. >> that turned into a strange gale of notoriety. hurry up and get that hurri

so i brought it to mike at meineke. we gave her car a free road handling check. i like free. free is good. my money. my choice. my meineke. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, outage boils over with thousands of runners about to converge on new york's devastated staten island to kickoff the city's legendary marathon. plus, cnn's with national guard troops as they search homes in one storm-ravaged area not

accessible until now. and will sandy throw a rench in the presidential election now just four days away? ahead, the challenges voters could face in states hardest hit by the storm. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the numbers continue to go up. 97 people here in the united states now confirmed dead in superstorm sandy's wake. at least 165 internationally. and on new york's staten island, which is bearing the brunt of the storm's wrath, the outrage is only intensifying after days of desperate pleas for help, the federal government is moving in. president obama deploying his homeland security secretary janet napolitano and fema deputy

to the region for support. all this two days ahead of the legendary new york city marathon. thousands of runners and race officials are set to flock to the devastated borough of staten island to kick off the event. our brian todd is standing by right now on staten island with the latest on the devastation. brian. >> reporter: wolf, there's been significant change in the amount of relief coming into staten island today. certainly a greater amount of relief than there was yesterday when people were just so angry and vehement to their complaint. this is the red cross and fema center where they're distributing food and some clothing. i can tell you there's one problem with this. the neighborhood that was most effected by this, at least the one in this immediate area, starts about 600 yards to my left. it goes in about another mile, maybe two miles from there. those people have no tv, no

internet, no phone, very little cell phone service. i would venture to believe that maybe a lot of them don't even know this is here. a lot of them are asking for help, asking for goods and food and hot water to be brought in. and a lot of them i don't believe know that this place is even here. so getting communication to them is going to be key. i'm not sure if that is really up to speed yet. what is getting to them is food and clothing brought by neighbors, everyday citizens just setting up grills to grill hamburgers and hot dogs. stations for people to pick up extra used clothing. that's all being brought in by local residents. we have seen virtually none of this material getting to them as far as being transported to them. i think maybe getting the word to the people in this neighborhood that this station is here is still a challenge here, wolf. >> when do they thinkr wi be restored on staten island? >> reporter: that's a very good question, wolf. we're not getting too many estimates. i can tell you i've been here

for two days in this neighborhood. about three hours ago is the first time i saw a power truck. and it was one. and there was i'd say several square miles of neighborhood, let's say, to boot up. if i had to venture a guess, i would say several more days. >> brian todd on the scene for us doing an excellent job as he always does. meanwhile, on new jersey's long island beach, look at this. amounts of sand literally up against the sides of the road like snow almost. efforts are underway to get it back on the beach where it belongs where many homes are seemingly beyond repair. here's mike galanos with our cnn sister network hln. >> reporter: here we have incredible access on long beach island, one of the barrier islands on the jersey shore smacked by hurricane sandy. over my shoulder there you see the atlantic ocean so pristine. right here, this is a nylon tubing built years ago stuffed with sand meant to withstand

storms like sandy. obviously no match. you can see in the distance that balcony on that house ready to just tumble down. you can see how high the water level. how about this house right here? this is the design a house built on stilts like this. below is a break away wall. that's the way it's meant to happen. but then you look at this house here. not built on stilts. just a straight slab. and let's go inside or get a little bit closer. look at the damage. no match for sandy. and the waves of the atlantic ocean just pounding away. even take a look inside there when you talk about real life damage. that is a kid's bunk bed crumbled, a room crumbled. think of that. at one point a family slept there. you can see bikes. just the things we use to live shattered, shattered. one last thing is obviously the rebuilding process when you take a look here, all the sand -- and you can see the truck in the distance trying to take the sand that is pushed deep into neighborhoods and bring it back to where it belongs on the beach. i'm mike galanos, back to you.

>> thanks very much. let's get back to the outrage over sunday's new york city marathon right now. the manhattan borough president told me just a little while ago he thinks the marathon should be postponed. and that's exactly what residents on staten island think as well. our national correspondent deborah feyerick is on staten island. she's getting reaction from storm victims. what are they saying, deb? >> reporter: well, you know, here are a couple choice words. they're using disgraceful, disgusting, slap in the face and outrage. and those are the gentler words being used. we want to tell you, wolf, according to a new york official, talks have been going on all afternoon as to whether in fact the marathon should take place. you have to understand the way the people out here see it is, for example, the marathon's on a bridge, the big bridge where the race starts, that's going to have to be closed down. that means no first responders, no way to get supplies in and out unless you go through new jersey. that's the first problem they're having.

the parking lots that are going to be used to bus in all these runners, those are parking lots that residents are saying, look, we need help. we need people to come. put volunteers on those buses. bring them in. forget about the runners. we spoke to a couple of people. here's what they had to say. >> we need our bridge open so that we can get resources here. that bridge is going to be closed all day on sunday both ways. how can people do that to us? >> there's people that don't even have homes right now. they don't have nothing to eat. nothing to sleep in. they're living in shelters and you're worried about a marathon. >> they're going to be taking off a hundred yards away from where two kids died. how stupid can that be? >> you know, what's incredible, wolf, as you drive along these neighborhoods that have been hit so hard, what you see is you see mountains of personal belongings that have been completely trashed that are piled outside in front of the homes. and the folks that we kept speaking to, they said what they need is they need more hands. they don't feel like there's

been a great response in terms of helping in the cleanup. it's a question, wolf, that i actually asked secretary napolitano when she was here. why aren't there any generators, any chain saws, the water purification, cleaning supplies people so desperately need? her answer was that those are going right now to nursing homes, they're prioritizing that. wolf, as far as this marathon goes, the people here in staten island, they are completely outraged. they feel that help came too late. that there's not been enough of it. you see a lot of the activity behind me. but this is all relatively new. this didn't get here until really the last 24 hours. so the fact that anyone can stage a marathon in this city given this scope of this tragedy, even after 9/11 they postponed the world series. just wait. that is what they're saying. for it to happen, really, it's going to cause a lot of bad blood. wolf. >> as you know, new york mayor michael bloomberg said it should go forward. he insists they're not going to

divert resources from staten island or anywhere else. the manhattan president scott stringer says he thinks it should be postponed, it's not appropriate for the marathon to go forward. he also suggested that the talks are still underway and he's not ruling out the possibility of a change that it could be postponed. are you getting any inside information at all from your sources? i know you're very well plugged in in new york, deb. it's possible they could still change that decision and postpone the marathon? >> reporter: it is possible. because, wolf, according to some of the people that i'm speaking to today, there have been talks all afternoon as to whether postponing the marathon may be the right thing to do. there's just so much pain right now. and people have lost everything in certain cases especially here in staten island. so if the marathon goes through, i think it's going to be -- it's one of those pr moves that you really can't recover from if that marathon goes forward. that's according to people we were speaking to.

somebody said there's got to be somebody here in staten island that supports it. as we were driving i was yelling out the window what do you think about the marathon and all the people i spoke to -- had to be a couple dozen, they all said it is a horrendous idea to have the marathon right now. especially putting a starting line in staten island, wolf. >> not mincing any words at all. deborah feyerick on the scene for us. thank you. we just got a tweet from con edison, the power company in new york city. con edison says restored over 65,000 customers on the lower east side and east village areas of manhattan. that's the official con edison account retweeted by the new york city mayor's office as well. about almost 250,000 customers were without power in the lower part of manhattan. this is a good start. 65,000 customers lower east side, east village areas of lower manhattan are now getting power at least according to this con edison tweet. we're about to hear from a cnn crew that accompanied a search

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changed by donations from people like you. send your love to the rescue. donate today. with so much death and destruction in sandy's path, some are now drawing comparisons between this superstorm and katrina. so just how do they measure up? cnn meteorologist severe weather expert chad myers is taking a closer look. he's joining us now. how do they measure up, chad? >> well, first of all, the storm surge with katrina was enormous. almost three times more of a wave or of a surge with katrina as bay st. louis was about 28 feet. manhattan island, downtown, the battery, had about 9.5 feet. haven't seen too many numbers higher than that. 9.5 feet moving into the city comparing to moving into the bay, obviously there's a town there and all the way do biloxi, it's the population density in new york city that is going to -- and in new jersey and

connecticut, that is going to put this way up in the record books. katrina, $145 billion in damage. andrew, this is cost for adjusted inflation $43.5 billion. and looks like somewhere sandy will fall somewhere between katrina and into andrew. so probably number two on the scale for dollar damage. now, when it comes to deaths, it's disturbing, wolf, to see and hear how quickly the fatality number in the u.s. is going up. you know, you expect it to tick up. it's jumping. katrina though 1,833, rita at 119, ike 112 and already past hugo and floyd. i know numbers don't mean much. it's the amount of devastation and how widespread it is. how many people -- estimate about one to two million people were in the way of katrina. 60 million people have been

affected somehow by sandy. >> you heard janet napolitano, the homeland security secretary say the area impacted by this was in her words the size of europe. that's a huge, huge area. >> no question. it was still only a category 1 when it made landfall. and at some point in katrina's life katrina was a category 5. 909 mill bars. it was a wide storm. the winds were 500 miles from one side to the other. above 45 to 50 miles per hour. and the damage is just so widespread. we had winds almost 90 miles per hour in massachusetts and 70 miles per hour down in parts of north carolina. that's literally the north and south scope of europe. >> chad myers giving us some perspective as he always does. appreciate it very much. we'll take a quick break. we're watching the devastation, the impact on what's going on. we're also only four days away from the presidential election. our reporters are all over the country in the battleground

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we're down to just four days until the 2012 presidential election. four days. president obama and mitt romney, they are campaigning nonstop. and thanks to cnn's vast resources, our crews are spread across the map to cover the candidates' final sprint to the election. we have reporters in the crucial battleground states that will decide the election. and multiple crews in the all-important state of ohio right now. amidst all of this, both presidential candidates were in ohio. and trying to spin the latest jobs numbers to their advantage. the economy added 171,000 new jobs in october. that's more than analysts

expected. also, revised figures from august and september show another 84,000 jobs were added more than first reported. those are the revised numbers. the unemployment rate is 7.9%. that's slightly higher than september's 7.8%. our chief business correspondent ali velshi is in toledo, ohio, in that battleground state, ali, what are theying relkn testin tno onlis it a tight race and one of the biggest prizes, but there's been a lot of early voting in ohio. so it's hard to find the independents in this state. but we have found a few of them. look, this sort of just reaffirms what you thought going into it. if you are an obama supporter leaning toward president obama, what this tells you is that we've got slow and steady growth. not as good as we'd like it to be. 171,000 is a little better than 60% of what we really need for a strong growing economy. if you're a romney supporter, you're going to focus on the

unemployment rate being 7.9% versus 7.8%. in the state of ohio there are a lot of things going on economically including shale gas, hydraulic fracturing or fracking as we call it. here in toledo there's a slow bubbling resurgence of the city that's right behind me, very slow. the jeep plant, i just spoke to a man here and it's resonating around here that mitt romney attack where he says president obama, sure, he may have bailed out the auto companies but did it to create jobs in china and suggesting that jeep is going to build vehicles in china, i've heard people say things like disgusting offensive. so that didn't play out all as well in some of these auto places like this in youngstown. bottom line, ohio like some of the big swing states has an unemployment rate lower than the national average. look at virginia and ohio. the question is who do you credit for that? a republican governor or a democratic president? and that's the big question here. but it's probably a wash as to what the unemployment rate did for president obama, wolf. >> ali, there's breaking news

we're following. we've just confirmed that the new york city mayor michael bloomberg has canceled the new york marathon for this weekend amidst all of the criticism earlier in the day. ali, he said it was going ard. he insisted it would notdivert resources fromhe cleanup, disas rescue operation. but now according to a statement just released, mayor bloomberg has decided at least to postpone, not completely cancel the marathon for this year. we're getting more information. you're very familiar with the upar, ali, that's been going on. >> reporter: yes. >> earlier here in "the situatn room," the borough president of manhattan, scott stringer, he told us he thinks it should be postponed. a lot of people were just furious at the mayor that he decided to keep it going using some of those badly needed generators in central park for media tent and other purposes. this is the right decision, don't you think? >> reporter: well, you know, he said earlier, he said i remember rudy giuliani who was the mayor at the time telling him after

9/11 they went ahead with the marathon. and it's something that new yorkers need. it's a symbol of new york saying we're still here. we're going to move on. but there was more time between 9/11 and the new york city marathon. and all criticism all day to say how is it that you maintain this marathon when you need emergency services and generators and we've got all these people without it. look, good on mayor bloomberg for taking that criticism and having discussions and meetings and making a different decision. i think you could have swung both ways. a lot of people said new york carries on always no matter what. but sandy is turning out to be more devastating than people expected on monday. looks like they've made a sound decision, wolf. >> in a statement that they're putting out, they're making it clear that, yes, they cannot allow what was going onto continue. let me read the statement to you. i just got a copy of it, ali, i want to read it to our viewers as well. this is the statement the mayor of new york, michael bloomberg, on the marathon "the marathon

has been an sbree gal part, tens of thousands participate in and millions more watch. while not diverting resources from the recovery effort, it's clear it's become the source of controversy and decision. the marathon has always brought us together and inspired us with stories of courage and determination. we would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, so we have decided to cancel it. we cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event, everyone one as meaningful as this, to distract attention away from all the critically important work that's being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track. he concludes by saying the new york road runners will have additional information in the days ahead or participants. an official statement, ali, from the mayor of new york michael bloomberg. go ahead, ali. >> reporter: i live on the upper west side which is where the

marathon ends. it's a remarkable event. people gather, it really does bring the city together. as you can tell from looking at me, i've got nothing to do with running, but you really do watch these people. it's a great event. but it's a lot of people that come to new york, a lot of hotel rooms being used by people who are displaced. a city still with transportation problems. new york has one of the largest police forces in the world, but those police are being used. those auxiliary police are being used for rescue efforts and to get people into areas of stability. you can really see how this would have been a great symbol for new york to say we're moving forward. but the practicality of life in new york is still difficult today. and we have bad weather coming later in the week. you can see where the pressure comes in to get this done and get new york fixed and up and running without having tens of thousands of people now putting more pressure on the city. >> yeah. it wasn't just the generators in central park or manhattan, the upper west side which hasn't been really badly affected by

all of this. >> right. >> but the bridge from staten island, that was going to be closed according to our own deborah feyerick, she's on staten island right now, for the entire day in both directions. >> right. >> and you need those transit areas to get badly needed equipment, generators, water, food, mobile shelters into staten island and into the lower part of manhattan as well where there's still a couple hundred thousand customers without power. so the appearance of going forward with this marathon was not becoming to new york. i guess that's the major concern the mayor had. >> reporter: and he didn't need to be involved in a controversy. nobody needs to be involved in a controversy. everybody's energy in new york right now needs to be spent getting new york back up and running, helping those families who have been displaced, those who have lost their loved ones. i think it's a wise move to not have to defend the position. you can sit there and debate whether or not the net benefits of new york would have been greater to have the marathon, the spirit it would show, but the logistics really are a

problem. and it would be the wrong side of the debate to be on now because all hands need to be on deck. it was a little curious. mayor bloomberg is very articulate. he really did lay out his argument for wanng to conti with this an thathat nerk dsn't g defeated. it's got a great history of always being there. in the end the controversy built and i think that made the decision for them as deborah feyerick reported just a little while ago, they had been in meetings all afternoon. a number of the groups involved in the rescue efforts in new york had been meeting despite the fact that mayor bloomberg said it was going to go ahead, they felt the wave of controversy coming on earlier and they decided let's talk about this. think this through. not only do we want to do this and drain resources, but do we want to wade into a controversy right now when in fact things have gone quite well in new york. they have tried to do this very well. new yorkers are responding well. do we want to face the criticism that we went and held a marathon while there are still people without power, without heat on cold night and without places to

live and ways to get to work including so many who have lost their lives. so in the end, wolf, probably a very smart decision to put this aside, move on. theti iintere, it would used another to hang over the race or participants we have decided to cancel it. he didn't say postpone. deborah feyerick is on staten island. she's joining us. you were telling us earlier how angry people were without food and water and power and going ahead to start a marathon on staten island, it was a disaster unfolding as far as these folks were concerned. i assume they'll be pleased. >> the way they're going to look at it probably, wolf, is the fact that resources they desperately need will now not be taken away from them. that first responders, that the new york police department, the fire department, all those

people that are vital frankly to making sure the marathon runs and runs well that all those resources will in fact stay where the people of staten island believe it should be and that's in the streets with them. you have to remember, wolf, you've got police officers at almost every intersection who are simply trying to keep traffic moving. also, for the race to take place for the runners to go over that bridge, it means they would have to close that bridge really for most of the day. we're talking about trucks with food that can't get in. cleanup crews that can't get in. so there's a residual effect. and the people we spoke with, their outrage was palpable, it was all directed at the mayor. and the mayor in their opinion was seen as insensitive, as callous, as really almost marginalizing them and isolating them and became, boy, we live on

staten island and nobody cares about us. so the people who live here will feel if nothing else that the focus and priority is back where they believe it should be, wolf. >> as bad as the situation is, lower manhattan below 34th street, it's pretty awful as well according to the manhattan borough president scott stringer who joined us in the last hour. he says there are folks who simply don't have food, water, no power, and there are still parts devastated by this. and you go to long island and new jersey along the atlantic coast, the jersey shore, this is not a time clearly the mayor concluded after making an earlier decision, this is not the right time to agonize so many people who are suffering right now. and as a result decided to cancel the new york marathon for this sunday. yeah, there will be thousands of runners disappointed, but they'll get over it pretty quickly.

they'll move on. this is not a critically important issue right now. ali velshi is still -- you want to make another point, deb? >> reporter: the point i was going to make is, look, you do have a lot of runners. they train very hard for this race. i think the last poll we had was some 30,000 runners training for this race. but you have to put that in perspecti perspective. there are millions of people who have had their lives torn apart. so when the mayor says the city has to move on so give sort of a raw-raw feat in the middle of this tragedy, the scope is so huge that good samaritans are here, loaded up the backs of their cars, they are delivering clothing, they are delivering peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. they're really just trying to help folks who have lost everything. wolf, it's incredible. in this section of staten island, there are piles of ruined goods in front of everybody's homes. they just had to simply throw everything out. when that's even going to be collected and the streets

cleared up, that's a whole other issue, wolf. >> i agree completely. ali, i suspect that there are 30,000 or 40,000 runners getting ready to run in the new york marathon. many of them probably already in new york in hotels and elsewhere with friends. they're just getting word that the marathon has been canceled. i suspect, ali, knowing some of these runners, many of them are going to want to spend the weekend in new york anyhow and volunteer to help in the cleanup, the recovery. i'm just guessing along those lines. >> reporter: i think you could be right. i mean, they're there. there's a camaraderie among runners -- >> ali, hold on one second. i think the first lady of the united states is speaking about the storm right now. i want to hear what she's saying. >> -- who has been effected. and as you've been seeing, barack has been working tirelessly with governors and mayors and our outstanding first responders to make sure that everything folks need is right there and they do their job. i know that we all will come together.

because that's what we do in crisis. we come together to help our citizens. so even in light of all this excitement and election, we can't forget, you know, when people are struggling, we have to have our focus and our priorities straight, right? so with that, i have to also thank brandon for that introduction. brandon, oh, he is working so hard. he's going to be working on election day. and i hope you'll be right there with him. and i also want to thank the president, dr. miller and his wife -- >> all right. the first lady of the united states weighing in on thetorm as well. the breaking news we've been following, the mayor of new york, michael bloomberg, has canceled the new york marathon for this sunday saying we would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants. so we have decided to cancel it. we're standing by for a news conference from city hall in new york with much more on what's going on. a lot of other news we're

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read and consider it carefully before investing. cnn's new poll in ohio shows president obama with a 50% to 47% lead over mitt romney. but that's within the poll's sampling error. i'm joined now by our chief national correspondent john king and our chief political correspondent candy crowley, anchor of cnn's "state of the union." what are they saying on the ground as far as ohio's concerned? it looks really close, john. >> reporter: it looks really close, wolf. but when you visit the campaign teams out here, guess what? it feels really close. that's why the president's here all day today. governor romney's here tonight with some stars of the republican party, local republicans think they'll have 35,000 people at that rally tonight. that's in the southwest corner of ohio. what they say is that both candidates right now are keeping their bases pretty strong. if you look at the cleveland area, the president runs strong.

if you look across the industrial part of the northern part of the state, you see evidence the auto bailout is helping the president. down here in the cincinnati area, southwest ohio, governor romney is ahead in the polls. and that's significant. barack obama carried hamilton county, where i am, four years ago. if hamilton county is blue on election day, the president will win ohio and most likely be re-elected. at the moment the romney team thinks it can hold onto this state -- onto this part of the state. so it's just a feisty fight it all out intensity try to churn turnout. the romney campaign considers it a dead heat and believes it can make up the intensity on election day. >> candy, are you hearing echoes of 2000 when florida went for george w. bush by 537 votes? out of millions cast. >> i am. because you can't ever get that out of your head because it was just such a surprise. i can tell you, you know, it's not whether i hear them, it's whether both these campaigns hear them. one of the things i was listening to james baker the other day who of course was the lead lawyer for the

then-candidate bush in 2000 who said, look, none of us ever expected this would happen. we weren't ready for a recount when it suddenly was obvious they needed one. both sides have lawyers that have been studying sometimes automatic recounts in some states. they've been looking at all the voter laws in these swing states just for the possibility that this could happen in ohio or colorado or florida or, you know, any of the -- virginia, any of those other swing states. >> you're seeing evidence in ohio, john, of a lot of lawyers getting ready to get involved if necessary. >> reporter: and let's hope it doesn't happen. but they're watching this through the early voting process. there are observers when you go to the early voting there are observers from both campaigns. both campaigns are trying to turn out the focus in this last weekend you can vote now because of the court decisions and the like you can vote now through monday. each campaign has a list of people who promised to vote

early. if you haven't voted, they're calling you saying you promised to vote this morning, you didn't show up. do you need a ride? what can we do? they expect it could be close enough that, yes, as candy noted, some states have an automatic depending on the ballot of the vote, that's could have, would have, should have, but this is so close in so many battleground states, the legal teams are trying to study every last bit in case they need an advantage. >> candy, listen to robert gibbs, the advisor to the obama campaign, put his spin on the decision by mitt romney at this late stage this weekend to make a visit to pennsylvania. listen to this. >> i think it means that romn romney/ryan campaign is desperate to try to figure out how to win this race. >> you think that's at all in the ballpark? pennsylvania, is that in play? >> let me tell you what the romney campaign says about this. they say, listen, it's interesting in the states we're

now talking about pennsylvania, minnesota, wisconsin, those are democratic states. you notice they will tell you that we're not -- that no campaign is playing in states like arizona where they're republican states -- states expected to go republican. they will also tell you that, look, the votes that have been cast they believe so far, not many of them in pennsylvania, have been in favor of romney. and they say, listen, we have people where we need to have them in all of these swing states. everything else is funded. you can't go up on the air in ohio anymore because there's just no more space for tv ads. they have some money. they looked around. and they saw pennsylvania and saw minnesota, wisconsin, and that's where they decided to put their money. they also note that the obama campaign has some folks going into pennsylvania. so is it a flier? it's a flier. they don't look at it as i'm desperate and looking at a way around ohio. mitt romney doesn't like to waste money, so we're not in

there for nothing. but they kind of like it. do they think they're going to win there? i'm not sure. but they certainly think that it's worth playing there. >> candy will have much more sunday morning 9:00 a.m. on "state of the union." we'll be watching that, candy. john, thanks very much for joining us. both will be joining me here. we'll have a live cnn "the situation room" 6:00 p.m. eastern saturday night as well. lots going on. meanwhile, cnn is with national guard troops as they search homes in one storm-ravaged area. and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well.

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the search for victims goes on. cnn's jim clancy is searching with u.s. national guard troops.

>> reporter: a sometimes forceful systematic search for survivors. >> every time we clear the street -- >> reporter: dozens of members of the u.s. army and air force national guard joined members of the ocean county's prosecutor office to probe seemingly abandoned homes on long beach island's community. in distressed situation they forcibly opened homes to call out for survivors. the prosecutors are on hand because they have jurisdiction if any bodies are uncovered. but in most cases it was a straightforward call to ask if anyone was inside. >> national guard. this part of the mission is search and rescue. pretty much nobody has been here. so we've been trying to see if any residents that have stayed over during the hurricane survived. that's basically what we're looking for here, any survivors. >> reporter: homes already ripped open by superstorm sandy were searched inside and out while these guard teams from new jersey kept a sharp look out for

signs of life anywhere around a home trying to ensure no one would be overlooked. devastating waves broke on these beaches ripping away huge amounts of sand that was then carried across the island leaving two or three-story homes perched dangerously atop their now shallow piling. today some of those dunes are six feet high making road access impossible. not waiting for those roads to be cleared, the coast guard joined in this search and rescue mission carrying the search parties to the other end of the island. the work almost done, the search teams mark each house and each street with red tape to document which homes have been checked. they found some residents, but none wanting to leave. like carl clark who road out the storm and still refuses to leave. but thinks it's a good idea to keep the island closed for now. >> that is a good thing in my opinion. you know, we have to restore this infrastructure.

we can't have everybody back yet. i'll stay here. i'll look after our home. our neighbor's home, watch out for looting, you know, anybody that doesn't belong here. >> reporter: carl and the residents who are not on the island can rest assured that the 100 plus national guard troops marching through freshly piled sand drifts are also on the look out for everyone. now, when we look at the island tonight, we can see that there have been national guard troops -- and there are more than 100 of them stationed on the island right now. they've been fanning out in humvees. they're manning checkpoints. they're doing patrols. just to ensure there are no problems. there's no gas here, there's no electricity here, there's no water here and there's no cable tv either. so there's not much reason for people to be here. still, some as you heard want to hold out a little bit longer. wolf, back to you. >> all right, out a little bit . wolf, back to you.

>> jim clancy in new jersey where there is obviously destruction and devastation. thank you. the election is another challenge because of sandy, we have new details coming in. things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing the all-new completely re-imagined 2013 chevrolet malibu. sleek new styling...

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amidst all of the devastation, there is now growin growing worries about being able to vote. >> that's true, wolf, some polling places could have no power on election day, a few have disappeared all together, and now it looks like authorities in new jersey may have to get the national guard involved in helping people vote

on tuesday. >> the state's hardest hit are the most likely to face the biggest challenges on election day. in new jersey, the lieutenant governor said there are some areas where the traditional poll willing place is gone, but voters should still report to the same location. >> there will be a truck, a national guardsman, and a sign that says vote here. >> the state of new jersey and new york say they're tweaking the rules to help voters including extending the deadline for absentee and mail in ballot. so they're almost gaurn teed in the obama column regardless of the turn out. polls have the president ahead, but there is now reason to wonder whether effects of the storm could put it back in play.

one question power outages in and arnold philadelphia could depress turn out. polling stations were add vieds to keep paper ballots in case there is not power. they had a few problems early ther week, especially in northern virginia. >> on monday we had no voting at all, tuesday we didn't get started until 10:00 in the morning, so we lag behind the 2008 number at this point, but we're sure this will be made up late this week and this weekend. >> virginia officials don't expect any problems. they said turnout was ahead of

2008 until monday and is now back up to speed. there is no in person early voting, so power outages have no effect there. the deputy secretary of state says every polling place will have power restored well in advance of election day. and finally in the crucial state of ohio, the storm did not slow down the high turnout the state has seen throughout the early voting period. >> so woers case scenario, is there any way to postpone an election? congress has the power to set the date for federal elections, but some states have special rules for emergencies. new york, for example, can even postpone it's elections for up to 20 days. >> as of now we don't expect that happen. >> no, just worst case scenario. >> we're expecting a news conference at the top of the hour. latest on the breaking news after this. the citi private pase and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada...

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